Of Love and Hate
by VixenVengeful
Summary: Sarah is grown and enjoying her life working for a book publisher and perusing little-browsed bookstores. But when she comes across the one book she never thought she'd find, all things in her life Above are forgotten as she races to save the Underground, the Labyrinth, and Jareth. Usual characters. I'm terrible with summaries, updating will be rare, rating is subject to change!
1. Chpt 1: Of Memories Remembered

**Author's Note:** Well, here I am again, writing fanfiction. It's been quite a while since my last delve into the fanfiction world, atleast the writing side of it, but I just could not help myself. My formatting is probably horribly off, so I apologize. Updates will be extremely few and far between as well, please read my page for reasons why. Constructive criticism is welcomed; it's been so long since I watched Labyrinth, but I've been missing Bowie quite a bit lately&decided to honor one of my favourite films he did. Thank-you for reading, I do hope you enjoy! _**~VV**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1:**_   
**_Of Memories Remembered and Knowledge Gained_**

Every step carried her closer to her destination. She couldn't wipe the smile off her face. Weaving down alleys, she ran her fingers over the stone work. She half expected some unknown creature to pop out from a corner, maybe even the Worm, offering to take her to meet the missus. But no.

This was not the Labyrinth, and she shut those thoughts down almost as soon as they began, as much as she missed her old friends and guides.

No, this was her usual weekend adventure to another dusty, rarely-traveled bookshop.

Sarah loved books, almost as much as she loved performing. Working for a publishing company, she didn't often get to perform much anymore; small plays here and there with the local theater company. But, she was still surrounded by books. And on the weekends, she made regular trips to the small bookshops that may hold rarer treasures than their commercial counterparts.

Sarah spotted her destination, the old-fashioned wooden sign hanging from a pole over the sidewalk only slightly faded. A large glass front and beautiful stained-glass door welcomed her. The sign proclaimed it to be "The Book Nook", the sign on the door saying "Open". Sarah pulled open the door, a bell above it giving a high-pitched jingling. She breathed deep, enjoying the smell of old paper and dust.

"Well hello there! You're my first customer today, anything I can help you with, my dear?" a stooped old woman had appeared from behind a curtain behind the cash register. She smiled a crooked-toothed smile, and Sarah grinned back. Small book store owners could be some of the most interesting people.

"Just browsing right now, but I'm sure I'll find something here! You have quite a bit of merchandise." Sarah replied, looking around. All three walls infront of her were covered in shelves bursting with books, and a few loose papers. There were smaller wooden shelving units on the store floor, also filled with books, with worn, dark leather chairs sitting haphazardly in spaces that could hold them, and a small door on the back wall that probably lead to an alley.

"Alright m'dear, just holler if you need me!" the woman began fidgeting with what looked like rings in the glass display the register sat on. Sarah smiled. She had found many a small trinket in these tiny bookstores.

The shelving on the floor looked newer than the wall's shelves, so Sarah drifted to the wall to the left of her, trailing an index finger over their slightly faded spines with her head tilted slightly to read the titles. Some books, of course, didn't have titles on the spines, and it was her rule that she would pull the book out to see what it was only if it looked older. A lot of new books were just that- new books, missing their jackets.

Sarah's mind started to drift a little, knowing that important titles would jump out at her if she saw them. She wondered how Toby was doing, reminding herself to call later. While she hadn't grown close to Karen in the way some step-mothers and their step-children did, Sarah had grown out of her immature, petty ways. It was wonderful to see her father so happy, and Karen was always good for advice or a chat. Sarah hadn't made many friends in University, which suited her just fine. She believed her time in the Labyrinth had changed her in a number of ways, and her fierce independence was just one of them.

' _The Labyrinth,'_ she thought, ' _I wonder how Hoggle is? And Ludo. Sir Didymus and_ _Ambrosius_ _too.. and J-'_

"No." Sarah said aloud, pausing in her slow path along the shelves.

"Did you say something, deary?" the old woman called from her place behind the register, looking concerned.

"Oh, no, sorry. Just.. thinking aloud!" Sarah called with a smile over her shoulder at the woman, and with her finger still on the book she left off at, she turned back to the shelf infront of her. Another reason she didn't make many friends- she was prone to outbursts of inner thoughts, usually having to do with a certain Goblin King and her need to drive him from her mind. The dreams were bad enough and couldn't be helped, she didn't need to have him in her waking mind too.

Shaking her head a bit, Sarah refocused, then frowned.

Underneath her index finger, a bright red cover practically shone. The book was slim, with no title on the spine. Sarah stared, unsure of why this book caught her attention, only that it caused a strange feeling to come over her, as if she was forgetting something. It broke her rule to do so, but she pulled it out to examine the cover.

It was blank.

"Strange." Sarah said quietly, thinking _'Maybe it's a notebook?'  
_  
"Ah, we've had that one for quite a while! No one has ever picked it up. Curious little thing, most of it's pages are blank! No title anywhere that I could see either, but it's quite an interesting book." the old woman had made her way to Sarah, staring at the book in her hands.

"If I'm being honest, I just want it to have a home. I'm not entirely sure where it came from either, just that it appeared in the back room quite some years ago. I'd be willing to give it to you, but only if you promise to tell your friends about the dusty old bookstore and the kindly old woman who runs it." the woman winked, and Sarah laughed.

"Are you sure? I'd feel awful if it would put you out any money." Sarah said, hugging the book to her chest.

"Oh, it's no trouble! Like I said, it deserves a home. Just to be certain it's the book for you, sit down and take a little read of it. I usually ask all my patrons to do the same, don't want a book going home only to be returned." the woman made her way back behind the register as Sarah settled down in a chair, placing the book in her lap.

She stared down at the cover, feeling both excited and nervous for reasons she would not let herself think of, not just yet. She ran her thumb down the side of the book, and delicately, as if it would fall apart, lifted the cover, then gingerly flipped the blank opening pages where there should have been a title and author, copyright notices and publishing licenses, book contents and dedications. Finally coming to a page with words, she began to read, and stopped remembering to breathe.

" _The Goblin King sat upon his throne, mis-matched eyes closed, while the distant sound of crumbling stone could be heard faintly on the breeze carried in through the many windows of his impressive throne room. Tufts of his white blonde, spun-candy hair drifted lazily about his face, the rest of it fluffed up as usual, but so much more ragged than ever before. He sat with a knee bent, foot resting on the seat, his chin in hand with bent elbow on one arm of the throne. Not a Goblin was to be found, for the Goblin King was in a tremendously terrible mood, had been in a terrible mood for much longer than was usual. He was very angry. He was immensely troubled. He was peculiarly pensive. He pondered and lamented his poor Labyrinth. He had always been a force to be reckoned with, that mighty Goblin King, but his power could not fix the crumbling walls of all that he ruled; nor could his power fix the crumbling walls of his stone-cold heart, but this he did not see for he did not think much of his heart these days, or had ever at all before or after Her._  
 _So there, the Goblin King did not see the answer that was quite clearly inside of him._ "

Spots appeared in Sarah's vision, and if she had not been sitting she would have crumpled to her knees. Drawing in a large breath of air as if surfacing from a lake, she blinked back tears she didn't realize had formed in her eyes.

"Something is wrong. So wrong." she said in a shaking exhale, drawing the confused stare of the elderly book store owner.

"Alright there, dear? You're sheet-white! Is that book that bad? There wasn't much in there when I peeked at it, just something about a goblin king all in a tizzy."

"Uh, no, I'm- I'm fine. It's just, what, uhm, what exactly did the book say when you read it, if you can recall?" Sarah asked, and the older woman's brow furrowed at the unusual question.

"Oh, let's see. A king of goblins had just been bested by a young girl, and he was in some sort of rage! And his heart that had been thawing was hardening anew, while his labyrinth was suffering the consequences.. There were only those few paragraphs of course, this must have been nearly a decade ago or so. It seemed like a sequel to another book, but I've never come across the first. Has... has the book changed?" The woman gave Sarah a strange look, as if she was suddenly considering the possibility that the girl infront of her was mentally unstable.

"No, no it's just.. I had the first book, the one this is a sequel to, when I was a child. I never thought... I never thought there would be a sequel."

The woman's concern left her face, and she gave Sarah a sympathetic smile, eyes shining.

"Well, then that's that. You simply must keep it, it must have been waiting for you all along!"

Sarah gave her a shakey smile, "Yes. Yes it must have been." 

* * *

**Author's Note** _(again)_ : There it is. The first chapter. I have a loose idea of where this is going, different snippets already typed out, but like I said, it will be spotty updating, and long waits inbetween, so please bare with me, I'll write when I can! _**~VV**_


	2. Chpt 2: Of Coffee and Contemplation

**Author's Note:** Thank-you guys so much for the amazing reviews&all the follows! Like I said, updates will be sporadic and not super quick, as I'm a single mom and can only do so much! I also just finished 17 episodes of Stranger Things, I hadn't seen what all the hype was about that series, but when the second season dropped I watched the first episode of season 1 and then spent the next 4 days devouring the entire series (maybe you'll notice?). I even forgot all about NaNoWriMo, so no chance to do that this month now. Enjoy the product of the limited free time I've had, haha. Only 1000 characters shorter than the first (sorry!). And of course, thank-you for reading ( : _ **~VV**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 2:**_  
 _ **Of Coffee and Contemplation**_

With a plastered-on smile and polite wave to the bookstore owner, Sarah hurried from the shop as soon as she could trust herself to stand without collapsing.

The Underground was in danger. The Labyrinth was crumbling. Jareth was falling apart.

For the first time in a long time, Sarah ran.

Sarah bolted down alleys and side streets, making it the few blocks to her quaint, rented, home. It was nothing fancy, just a small two-story surrounded by other small two-stories, with a little porch and a fenced front yard. It was all in need of some repair, but nothing major, nothing that needed attention right now.

Not like the situation at hand. Which demanded, cried out, for Sarah's notice.

Sarah's sprint finally slowed as she reached her small front gate, unlatching it and re-latching it behind her. Not a security measure, just a habit.

She raced to her front door, fumbling for her keys in her pocket, trying to yank them out while keeping hold of The Book and cursing the tiny pockets most women's jeans had. Her keys finally broke free and the force with which she was trying to remove them flung them into the door. They rattled as they fell and Sarah froze. She took a deep breath in, and let it out slowly.

"I need to stop this." Sarah said aloud, enunciating each word carefully, though she wasn't sure if she meant her current emotional state and the dramatic movements that came with it, or whatever was happening in the Underground. She didn't even know if she could stop what was happening in the Underground. She needed to think this all over. She needed to sort through what she felt, and she needed to do it rationally- not however she was doing it now.

In a delibrately slow motion, Sarah bent and scooped up her keys. She picked out her door's deadbolt key and unlocked it, stepping through the threshold of her house and relocking the door. That was a security measure, though the neighbourhood wasn't a particularly bad one. It just wasn't partuliarly good either. It was what she could afford on her small salary.

Sarah dropped her keys in the bowl on the little table near the door, placing the Book gently down beside it as she removed her coat and hung it, along with her book bag, in the small closet. Picking up the Book again, she made her way down the narrow hallway to the kitchen, passing the stairs and the adjacent doorway leading to her living room as she did. It was all as she had left it this morning, yet somehow it felt different. As if years had passed between then and now. All the years she had spent trying to forget Jareth suddenly weighing upon her shoulders.

Reaching the kitchen, she set the Book down on her small kitchen table, and went about making herself coffee. There was nothing like a hot, black cup of that bitter drink to help her focus. While her coffee maker brewed her favourite drink, she took a seat infront of the book, opened the cover and flipped to the first word-covered page, wanting to study the paragraph some more.

But she found that more text had appeared beneath the first. It seemed that the Book really had been waiting for her, after all.

" _She had not feared him. She hadn't appeared to have loved him. She most certainly did not do as He said. And yet, The Goblin King had found himself her unwilling slave. Not a day had went by where he did not think of her, in some capacity. Though with each one passing; each hour, and minute, and second that She did not call on him; like a peach left to rot, he soured inside. All that time began to warp his feelings, his very emotions, right down to his core. The core where the Labyrinth drew it's strength, for at the Goblin Kings core was his magical essence, and all things around him, all that he ruled, were of his essence's creation.  
_ _And at his core, where previously he had not been, he was now very darkly tainted by hate. Hate that was evolving from his slowly twisting feelings for Her.  
_ _While the Goblin King brooded in his rotting Underground, She had found the Book._ "

"What the- this thing is self-aware?!" Sarah squinted at the Book sitting on her table, mouth slightly open. She snapped her jaw shut and shook herself. Standing, she grabbed a mug from a cupboard and poured herself some coffee from the steadily-filling pot. The coffee in her mug threatened to slosh over the sides as her hands shook slightly. She took a sip, scalding her throat, but the slight burn managed to ground her.

"Well, I guess that settles it. I need to go Underground." she said, "But it will have to wait 'til Friday. I have work. I am not going to let Jareth-" her skin tingled at his name "-ruin my job and everything I've worked so hard for here. No, he can just continue to brood. All these years, another few days won't matter."

Sarah set her coffee down on her table, and pushed the Book into the center. She had a few books she was proofreading for work, and she wasn't going to let the Book stop her. 

Hours later, during which Sarah edited, ate a store-bought salad for dinner, and then edited some more, she stood up from the table and stretched. She wanted to work her way into a commissioning editor position, but for now she was a copy editor. Which was just fine with her, any work was good work, and she had been lucky to land a job so quickly out of University. Most of her life after leaving the Labyrinth had involved what seemed to be an awfully large amount of luck. getting a full scholarship to the university she was aiming for, landing the job, finding a house to rent for dirt cheap. She hadn't met many obstacles. Sarah liked to believe that with all the obstacles she had had to overcome in the Labyrinth, Karma was repaying her with little to none in the Aboveground.

Sarah rinsed out her mug and left it in the sink, yawning while turning off the kitchen light. It was most definitely past her bedtime, but she always found herself getting to wrapped up in good stories that it was hard to put them down.

But put it down she did, and off to bed she went, dragging her feet the whole way up the narrow stairs to her small room on the right. 

The next morning, Sarah practically fell out of bed in her haste to check the book, nearly broke her neck flying down the stairs.

But no, she found nothing much new. Just a single sentence,

" _The Goblin King continued to brood, while She dawdled on about her Aboveground life, seemingly unconcerned with the plight that had befallen the Labyrinth._ "

"Huh. Bit of an attitude, this Book is copping with me. Rude little thing." Sarah stuck her tongue out at it, then as quick as she did she retracted her tongue. "Wow, that was childish. I don't know what's gotten into me."

Sarah put coffee on and then made her way back up the stairs, to the small bathroom across from the top of them. She needed a shower. A long shower, during which to contemplate things. Mornings were most definitely for coffee and contemplation. 

Taking the quickest of quick showers, in order to enjoy her coffee while it was scalding, she popped out from behind the curtain after only 5 minutes, dried herself off with a towel and then wrapped it around herself. Sarah went to stare at herself in the mirror, and raised a hand to wipe it off but jumped at a hazy black shadow that seemed to flit off behind her. Hand to her heart she turned, and heard the tell-tale buzz. Spotting a black house fly lazily flying over to land on her shower curtain, Sarah laughed

"I am being silly. And I really need to stop." Sarah turned back to the mirror, wiping away some condensation to better see her face. She thought of Jareth, sitting moodily on his throne, quite possibly punting goblins around, maybe even beating on Hoggle or bossing her friends around as if they deserve punishment for her leaving.

"But is it really my Labyrinth to save?" she asked her reflection. Staring into her own eyes, she knew the truth. "Well it does seem to be partly my fault that its falling apart."


End file.
